Bird-Watching

From redheaded turkey vultures to golden eagles, 357 species of birds have been identified in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Ask for a checklist at the visitor center and then start looking for greater roadrunners, red-winged blackbirds, white-throated swifts, northern flickers, and pygmy nuthatches.

Rattlesnake Springs. Offering one of the best bird habitats in the Southwest, this is a natural wetland rife with old-growth cottonwoods. Because southern New Mexico is in the northernmost region of the Chihuahuan Desert, you're likely to see birds largely unseen anywhere else in the United States outside extreme southern Texas and Arizona. If you see a flash of crimson, you might have spotted a vermilion flycatcher. Wild turkeys also flap around this oasis, which also has a shaded picnic area. Potable water and permanent toilets are on-site. As elsewhere in the park, you are expected to leave a small footprint. Do not disturb, and if you pack it in, pack it out. Hwy. 418, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico, 88220-5354. www.nps.gov/cave.